Six Russian policemen killed in bomb blast in Ingushetia

This picture taken on July 19, 2012 in Kazan shows Russian police experts examining the remains of the car of the Islamic leader of Russia's main Muslim region of Tatarstan, following a car blast in Kazan.

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At least six Russian police officers have been killed after a bomb ripped through the funeral ceremony of their fellow colleague in the Russian Caucasus region of Ingushetia.
"As the policemen entered the yard of the house where the funeral was taking place, a powerful blast went off. As a result of the explosion, six policemen died on the spot and there are many wounded," a spokesman for the regional Investigative Committee told the Interfax news agency.
The slain policemen had participated in the funeral of a fellow officer who was shot dead in the Malgobek district in the north of the region on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a militant attack on a mosque in Dagestan, a republic of the Russian Federation located in the Caucasus, left eight Muslims wounded. The Muslims were celebrating the end of holy month of Ramadan.
Russia has been fighting militants since the mid 1990s in its North Caucasus region, where the republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia have been the scene of sporadic attacks and clashes.
Violence first broke out in Chechnya in 1994, when 250,000 people were forced to flee to neighboring territories because of a war between Chechen separatists and the Russian army.
After a short-lived period of relative peace from 1996 to 1999, war resumed following attacks blamed on Chechen militant groups.
AO/MA